Oakland Man Acquitted Of Most Charges In Fatal Emeryville Area Drug Deal Shooting

A jury found an Oakland man not guilty of three charges and deadlocked on a fourth in an Alameda County courtroom last Thursday. Cameron Smith, 23, was on trial for the shooting death of a Richmond man and the wounding of another man in a botched drug deal in Emeryville in 2017.

Smith was charged in the fatal shooting of 19-year-old Eondre Bolton of Richmond and the wounding of Bolton’s companion Maurice Hanks in the parking lot of the Target store on the Oakland/Emeryville shortly after 6 p.m. on Dec. 4, 2017.

Smith was charged with murder for Bolton’s death, attempted murder for allegedly shooting Hanks, who survived his injuries, and also faced charges of assault with a semiautomatic gun and shooting at an occupied vehicle.

In a courtroom packed with members of Smith’s and Bolton’s families, jurors found Smith not guilty of first-degree murder and second-degree murder on the charge for Bolton’s death, but deadlocked on the lesser included charge of voluntary manslaughter.

The jury foreman told Alameda County Superior Court Judge Thomas Reardon the jury was deadlocked 7-5 on voluntary manslaughter in its last vote on that charge Thursday morning.

The foreman said the jury had been deadlocked 10-2 on that charge on Wednesday but didn’t specify whether the majority was in favor of guilty or not guilty in any of its balloting.

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Reardon declared a mistrial on that charge and ordered Smith, who’s still being held in custody without bail, to return to court on April 25, when prosecutors will announce whether they will prosecute him a second time on the voluntary manslaughter charge.

Jurors found Smith not guilty of attempted murder, assault with a semiautomatic gun and shooting at an occupied vehicle.

Alameda County prosecutor Butch Ford told jurors in his closing argument that Smith should be convicted of first-degree murder and the other charges because he thinks the shooting was “an execution.”

A protective mask and bloody guaze from emergency crews were left behind at the crime scene.

Ford admitted that Bolton and Hanks acted with provocation by trying to steal marijuana from Smith, but said Smith wasn’t in any danger when he fatally shot Bolton.

Ford said Bolton already had been shot multiple times and was fleeing for his life when Smith shot him in the back of his head and killed him.

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